LONDON.- On the anniversary of the 15th Pavilion commission in 2015, the Serpentine launched a nationwide campaign: Build Your Own Pavilion, a young architect’s challenge for 8-14 year-olds, inviting them to design their own Pavilions, either in workshops or at home, and enter them into the competition. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the project accompanied the Serpentine’s internationally acclaimed annual architecture programme – the Serpentine Pavilion – to inspire the next generation of architects. The project will return for its second year in the summer of 2016.

Entries were divided into two categories, 8-10 years and 11-14 years, with a winner and runner-ups up selected for both categories. The winner of the 8-10 years category is 10 year-old Jasmine, from Teddington, whose Pavilion was inspired by spiders’ webs and includes mirrored ramps that visitors would walk up. She wanted her visitors to decide what the shapes mean.

The winner of the 11-14 years category is 13 year-old Nahida, from Tower Hamlets, London, who based her Pavilion on the idea of a scrunched-up piece of paper with vibrant transparent colour incorporated into every crease. She intended for the Pavilion to be a big studio for people to rent out or to use for school workshops.

Runners up and commended mentions in the 8-10 year-old category include: Peter, aged 10, whose double sided curvy staircase was inspired by the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea; Amy, aged 10, created a ‘Readax’ Pavilion for reading and relaxing, with words printed on the Pavilion; 10 year-old Aaron’s Pavilion was inspired by fire and shaped like a giant flame; the night sky and stars inspired 9 year-old Anaira’s celestial Pavilion; nature inspired Arne, aged 10, who placed a tree at the heart of his metal structure.

In the 11-14 year-old category runners up and commended mentions include: Nadir, aged 13, whose Pavilion was inspired by arches and columns of Roman architecture; 11 year-old Caspar’s vivid design echoed the colours of summer; Hannah, aged 13, whose simple but sophisticated paper Pavilion was made as part of an Edinburgh workshop; Diego, aged 13, whose elegant and modern Pavilion focused on aesthetic harmony; and Yash, aged 13, who used wire and straws to create a twisting, futurist structure.

The competition, which had over 600 entries, was judged by the Serpentine Directors, Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist; the designers of the 2015 Serpentine Pavilion - selgascano; David Glover, Chairman of Intelligent Engineering UK; and Dejan Mitrovic, Founder of Kidesign and designer of the Build Your Own Pavilion workshops.

Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, Serpentine Galleries, said: ‘We were overwhelmed by the volume and sophistication of the Pavilions submitted both through the workshops and online. We are delighted that so many young people took up the challenge of designing their own Pavilions and thinking about how they might be used. We will be looking out for these rising stars in architecture over the coming years.’

Dejan Mitovic, Founder of Kidesign said: ‘Jasmine's idea of letting the visitor explore the Pavilion by interpreting and defining the shapes themselves adds another level to the creative excellence of the design. Nahida's design looks like a 2D pattern turned into a 3D form, with its irregular, yet visually coordinated shapes. I particularly liked the simple palette of colours and the transparent elements that allow natural light into the Pavilion.’